BBCBBC Four is a British television channel operated by the British
Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers
on Freeview, IPTV, satellite, and cable.
BBCBBC Four launched on 2 March 2002,[1] with a schedule running from
19:00 to 04:00. The channel shows "a wide variety of programmes
including comedy, documentaries, music, international film, original
programmes, drama and current affairs ... an alternative to programmes
on the mainstream TV channels".[2] It is required by its licence to
broadcast at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110
hours of new factual programmes and to premiere twenty international
films each year.[3][4]

History[edit]
BBCBBC Four launched on 2 March 2002 at 19:00 GMT, having been delayed
from the original planned 2001 launch.
BBCBBC Four began originally as a
late schedule to
BBCBBC Two, before it received its own channel, along
with
BBCBBC Three. Curiously,
BBCBBC Four had to launch before
BBCBBC Three as
a result of the government delaying approval plans. The channel
replaced
BBCBBC Knowledge, an educational and cultural channel which had
undergone many changes throughout its lifetime; in its final format it
carried a schedule of documentaries and art programming, essentially a
test of the new
BBCBBC Four schedule.
BBCBBC Four would rebrand this
channel, and bring it into line with the well recognised
BBCBBC One and
Two brands at the same time. Planning for the new channel, along with
the new
BBCBBC Three, had been in progress since October 2000; however,
the incumbent government delayed approving the new
BBCBBC digital plans.
The
BBCBBC Four plans were approved earlier, and as a result launched
before
BBCBBC Three.
BBCBBC Four was different from the old
BBCBBC Knowledge: the channel would
be more heavily promoted with more new and original programming and
the channel would not be broadcast 24 hours a day. This was because on
the Freeview digital terrestrial platform,
BBCBBC Four is broadcast in a
statistically multiplexed stream in Multiplex B that timeshares with
the
CBeebiesCBeebies channel (which is on air from 06:00 until 19:00). As a
result,
BBCBBC Four broadcasts from 19:00 to around 04:00 each night,
with an hour's down-time and promotions for
CBeebiesCBeebies before the start
of that channel's schedule.
On 12 May 2011,
BBCBBC Four was added to the Sky EPG in the Republic of
Ireland on channel 230. It later moved to EPG 211 to free up space for
new channels.[5]
Organisation[edit]
BBCBBC Four forms part of the
BBCBBC Vision group, and as a result, the
channel controller is answerable to the head of this executive
department: Emma Swain, as of 2012. The channel direction is
determined by the channel's remit, set by royal charter and the
corporation's governing body (the
BBCBBC Trust), and by the channel
controller. In October 2013, following the departure of Richard Klein
from the controllership, the management of the channel changed, with
the role of Controller of
BBCBBC Four scrapped: from this point the
Controller of
BBCBBC Two would have ultimate oversight of
BBCBBC Four as
part of their role, absorbing some of the former duties of the
Controller of
BBCBBC Four, but a new 'Channel Editor' post, reporting up
to this controller, would be created to take day-to-day charge of
Four. The controllers of
BBCBBC Four from 2002-2016 have been:

2002–2004: Roly Keating
2004–2008: Janice Hadlow[6]
2008–2013: Richard Klein[7]
2013–2014:
Janice Hadlow (as Controller of
BBCBBC Two and
BBCBBC Four) "on
an interim basis"[8] - Hadlow had been Controller of
BBCBBC Two since
departing
BBCBBC Four in 2008
Early 2014: Adam Barker (interim Controller of
BBCBBC Two and
BBCBBC Four
following Janice Hadlow's departure to a new post)[9]
2014–2016:
Kim Shillinglaw (as Controller of
BBCBBC Two and BBC
Four)[10]

BBCBBC Four has an annual budget of £54.3 million.[3]
On 20 January 2016,
Kim Shillinglaw announced that she had decided to
leave the
BBCBBC as the Controller of
BBCBBC Two &
BBCBBC Four. As a result
of the reorganisation, the post of Controller
BBCBBC Two and Four will
close after her departure later in 2016.[12]
BBCBBC Four HD[edit]

On 16 July 2013, the
BBCBBC announced that a high-definition (HD)
simulcast of
BBCBBC Four would be launched by early 2014.[13] The channel
launched on 10 December 2013, and rolled out nationwide up to June
2014 (as will
BBCBBC News HD and
CBeebiesCBeebies HD).[14] The channel broadcasts
on the BBC's new HD multiplex on Freeview and shares its stream with
CBeebiesCBeebies HD as they both air at different times. Prior to launch, the
majority of
BBCBBC Four's HD output was broadcast on the
BBCBBC HD channel
before its closure on 26 March 2013.
Programming[edit]
Main article: List of programmes broadcast by the BBC

BBCBBC Four's primary role is to reflect a range of UK and international
arts, music and culture. It should provide an ambitious range of
innovative, high quality programming that is intellectually and
culturally enriching, taking an expert and in-depth approach to a wide
range of subjects.
—
BBCBBC Four Remit

The first evening's
BBCBBC Four programmes were simulcast on
BBCBBC Two.[1]
BBCBBC Four is notable for first showing Larry David's Seinfeld
follow-up, Curb Your Enthusiasm,[15] Armando Iannucci's cutting
political satire, The Thick of It, The Chaser's War on Everything,
Flight of the Conchords,
Mad MenMad Men and Danish thriller The Killing.
The channel broadcasts a mixture of art and science documentaries,
vintage drama (including many rare black-and-white programmes), and
non-English language productions such as films from the Artificial Eye
catalogue, the French thriller Spiral and the Swedish detective series
Wallander.[16]
BBCBBC Four further supports foreign language films with
its annual World Cinema Award which has been running since 2004.
On weekdays at 19:00, the channel shows a 30-minute global news
programme called Beyond 100 Days Monday–Thursday and an edition of
World News TodayWorld News Today on Fridays, simulcast with and produced by
BBCBBC World
News. Beyond 100 Days takes a Christmas break'.
It screens a number of documentaries such as The Century of the Self
and The Trials of Henry Kissinger. The channel is also home to many
political travel shows such as
Holidays in the Axis of EvilHolidays in the Axis of Evil which
features investigative journalism.
DramaDrama has given the channel some of its most popular programmes, with
The
Alan ClarkAlan Clark Diaries (2003) and Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
(2006) being among the highest rated, with over 800,000 viewers. The
highly acclaimed Hattie, broadcast in 2011, holds the record for
BBC4's best ever consolidated ratings of 2m / 8%.[17] Before that The
Curse of Steptoe brought the channel its highest audience figures,
estimated as 1.41 million viewers, a 7% share of multichannel
audiences between 21:00 and 22:05, based on overnight returns.[18] The
official audience figures for the broadcast, including time-shifting,
were later published as 1,625,000.[19] Another notable production was
a live re-make of the 1953 science-fiction serial The Quatermass
Experiment, adapted from the original scripts into a single, two-hour
version (though on the night it, in fact, underran considerably,
lasting less than 1 hour 40 minutes), broadcast on the evening of
Saturday 2 April 2005. Discounting
BBCBBC Four's previous live relays of
theatrical
ShakespeareShakespeare productions, this was the first live
made-for-television drama to be broadcast by the
BBCBBC for twenty years.
Another notable programme broadcast on
BBCBBC Four is Charlie Brooker's
Screenwipe which contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories
and commentary on how television is produced. The show is presented by
broadcaster Charlie Brooker.
The channel is also curator and leader of the
BBCBBC Archive project
whose aim is that the BBC's television archive is re-broadcast as much
as appropriate so that the Archive can be enjoyed again and not
isolated.[20]
Some output from
BBCBBC Four (documentaries rather than foreign films)
was for a time repeated on
BBCBBC Two in a '
BBCBBC Four on Two' branded
area, although this was often in a late night broadcast slot after
NewsnightNewsnight and has since been discontinued.
According to
BARBBARB the comedy panel game QI has the highest ratings of
any show on
BBCBBC Four.[21]
At the Edinburgh International Television Festival,
BBCBBC Four won the
Non-Terrestrial Channel of the Year award in 2004, 2006 and 2012.
In 2012 Dirk Gently became the first continuing drama series produced
for the channel.[22]
BBCBBC Four is occasionally used to show live sports coverage. The
channel aired additional games from the
UEFA Euro 2016UEFA Euro 2016 football
tournament, and temporarily extended its broadcast hours to show live
action from the 2016 Summer Olympics.[23]
Programmes[edit]
Original programmes[edit]

The
ArtArt of Cornwall
The Ballad of Mott the Hoople
BBCBBC Four Sessions
Birds Britania
Britain by Bike
Britain's Best Drives
Can Eating Insects Save the World
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Children's TV Trials
Churches: How To Read Them
The Curse of Steptoe
Detectorists
Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters
Dirk Gently
Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency
The First World War
Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster
Free Will and Testament: The Robert Wyatt Story
Goodbye
BBCBBC Television Centre
The Great War
Hattie
HG Wells: War with the World
Hinterland/Y Gwyll (Joint
BBCBBC /
S4CS4C production, English language
version)
Hive Minds
How to Build a Dinosaur
If Walls Could Talk
Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City
Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie
Only Connect
Racing at the BBC
Sandhurst
The Secret Life of Ice
Shock and Awe: The Life of Electricity
Singer-Songwriters at the BBC
Sings the...
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
The Story of Musicals
The Story of the National Grid
Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures
Talking Children
Timeshift
Twenty Twelve
To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird at 50
Walter's War
World News TodayWorld News Today (simulcast on
BBCBBC Four and
BBCBBC World News)
Beyond 100 Days (simulcast on
BBCBBC Four,
BBCBBC News and
BBCBBC World News)

Africa
All Creatures Great and Small
Batman
The Bear Family and Me
Blue PeterBlue Peter (Classics only)
The Blue Planet
Butterflies
Casualty 1906
Casualty 1907
Climbing Great Buildings
Cranford
Doctor WhoDoctor Who (the Classic Series)
Ever Decreasing Circles
Fawlty Towers
The Frozen Planet
The Good Life
Great British Railway Journeys
I, Claudius
Juliet Bravo
Last of the Summer Wine
Life
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
The Life of Mammals
The Likely Lads
Monty Python's Flying Circus
The Onedin Line
Outnumbered
Planet Earth
Porridge
Pride and Prejudice
The Sky at Night
Sorry!
Supernatural
Sykes
Tales of Beatrix Potter
Top of the Pops
Waking the Dead
Walking with Beasts
Walking with Dinosaurs
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Yes Minister
Yes, Prime Minister
The Young Ones

Films[edit]

Amadeus
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Brides of Dracula
Carry On Loving
Cloud 9
The Curse of Frankenstein
Dracula
King Kong
The Lady Vanishes
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Monty Python's Life of Brian
South Pacific
The Swarm
The Thirty-Nine Steps
To Kill a Mockingbird
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

The Avengers
Blue Peter
The Clangers
Grange Hill
The Magic Roundabout
Newsround
Play School

Most watched programmes[edit]
The following is a list of the ten most watched broadcasts on
BBCBBC Four
since launch, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB.[24] Number of
viewers does not include repeats.

Rank
Programme
Number of Viewers
Date

1
Hattie
2,005,000
19 January 2009

2
The Bridge
1,810,000
21 November 2015

3
Detectorists
1,687,000
8 November 2017

4
Roots
1,659,000
8 February 2017

5
The Curse of Steptoe
1,625,000
19 March 2008

6
The Bridge
1,620,000
1 February 2014

7
Detectorists
1,593,000
22 November 2017

8
Goodbye Television Centre
1,588,000
22 March 2013

9
The Bridge
1,547,000
1 February 2014

10
The Bridge
1,541,000
28 November 2015

Presentation[edit]
Main articles:
BBCBBC Four idents and History of
BBCBBC television idents
The channel's initial series of idents were generated dynamically
reflecting the frequencies of the continuity announcers' voice or of
backing music and were designed by Lambie-Nairn. As a result, no two
idents were ever the same. The first continuity announcer was Zeb
Soanes.
When the channel first started airing, it used the slogan "Everyone
Needs A Place To Think", but the
BBCBBC stopped using this several months
after the launch. However the
BBCBBC Four logo and above slogan can be
found, engraved on benches along the
South BankSouth Bank in London, between the
London Eye and Waterloo Bridge.
On 10 September 2005, the channel began showing new idents comprising
a central
BBCBBC Four logo surrounded by four quadrants which show
different stages of the same footage thus making for a sort of optical
illusion; for example, a swimming pool where a person on an inflatable
ring appears in the bottom-left corner, though ripples don't enter the
remaining quarters. Although the image appears as one at the start of
the ident, by the end it is clearly four separate images.
See also[edit]

British Academy of
FilmFilm and Television Arts
British Phonographic Industry
Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union
Clearcast
Digital TV Group
Digital UK
Equity
Federation Against Copyright Theft
National Union of Journalists
The Publishers Association
Royal Television Society
United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting